


Murtagh Saves the Day

by ke_xia



Category: Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 18:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4575282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ke_xia/pseuds/ke_xia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Claire is stopped by the Red Coats before she can escape through the stones in DIA, but Murtagh saves the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of prompts sent in to [Imagine Claire & Jamie](http://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/post/125866893771/love-your-stories-imagine-if-claire-was-stopped) on tumblr, written by Mod Eli. (That's me!) I'm posting them here for easier reading and in case there's anyone over here on AO3 who might not be on tumblr. Do feel free to check the blog out, though, and send in prompts if you have more ideas for our favorite pair!

> anonymous said:  
>  Love your stories :) Imagine if Claire was stopped by the redcoats before being able to get through the Stones at the end of DIA.

“No!” she screamed. “Jamie!”

The hands were rough, dragging her away from the stones, away from safety. Oh, God. She hadn’t gotten through. She’d promised she’d see the child safe and she’d failed. She hadn’t been fast enough. What would they do to her? Where was Jamie? Jesus, he’d been so ready to die after she’d left. What if the Red Coats had already run him through? 

She swung her head back toward the cottage, searching for him. Was he down there? “Jamie!” she screamed so loud that her voice cracked painfully. 

The dragoons were making off with her, and she couldn’t allow it. She melted to the ground, becoming a dead weight in their arms, making the soldiers curse and stop, shifting to readjust their hold. Claire was sure they were about to pick her right up when she heard a dull thud and one of the men sank to the ground, followed by the second.

“Come, lass,” said a familiar voice at her elbow, hands gently pulling her up off the ground and tugging her away from the pools of blood forming next to the soldiers. “Neither of ye will be dyin’ today, if I’ve anything to say about it.”

She looked up into the worried gaze of Murtagh, stumbling along at his side as he pulled her away from the stones. No- she was supposed to go back. She was supposed to go through and see to the baby’s safety. “But Jamie-” she breathed softly, mind whirling in confusion. Everything had happened so quickly. Bloody hell, Culloden was about to be washed in the blood of the Scots. And Murtagh was meant to get the men away-

“The lads of Lallybroch are already on their way home. Jamie’s just killed a few Red Coats of his own, and I’ll be getting the two of ye awa’ safe. Now come, Claire. There’s no time.”

“Three of us,” she murmured distractedly. 

“Aye, well, I’ll be there too, o’course, but-”

“No.” Claire touched a hand to her stomach and offered him a dazed smile. “You’re to be a godfather again, Murtagh.” 

“I- a godfather? Ye mean t’say ye’re-”

“I’m pregnant, yes. And I could think of no one better to protect this child as you have protected Jamie all his life. Now, come, Murtagh. Where is my husband?”

“Oh! Aye, just this way, lass. Just this way.”

They found Jamie with a broken nose, blood pouring down his face. Murtagh allowed them to stop long enough only for Claire to help Jamie slow the flow, and then they were off, stumbling away toward Inverness to head north. The further they could get from the English, from Culloden and the massacre that was about to happen there, the safer they’d be. Perhaps they’d leave Scotland altogether, somewhere along the coast. It didn’t matter where they went, really, so long as they escaped the King’s grasp. Not so easy, but with Murtagh’s help, Claire had faith that they would be all right.


	2. Chapter 2

> anonymous said:  
> Imagine Claire, Jamie and Murtagh make it back to Lallyboch (cont. of Claire gets stopped by the redcoats)

They couldn’t stay long. They had to get as far away from Lallybroch as possible as quickly as possible, but Jamie had wanted to stop there to say goodbye while they had a moment. Letters wouldn’t be safe for a while, so he and Claire would have to disappear entirely until things had settled in the Highlands. 

“Ye take care ‘o that bairn, Claire,” Jenny warned her as she loaded up a basket of food for them. Claire and Jamie had both tried to insist she keep the food, that they could find their own along the way, but Jenny had insisted. Everyone was hungry and would be for a while, but she’d not send her brother and his pregnant wife away empty-handed. “Jamie- he’ll be a great father. Ye’ll be alright this time. Ye’ve a healthy glow about ye, and ye’ll be runnin’ off to safety- no one can touch ye. He’s been waiting all his life for this, he’ll see ye both safe.”

“I know,” Claire breathed, crossing her arms protectively over her stomach. He already tried once, she thought. But this time, they’d be together. This time, they’d get away, and they wouldn’t fail. This baby would be healthy and strong. Jamie would get a chance to be a father. God, she couldn’t wait for that. But they had to get to safety first. “I’ll take good care of the baby, Jenny. And Jamie, too. Don’t worry.”

Everyone was running about like crazy. Ponies were being prepared, blankets and food and clothes. Jamie and Murtagh were in the study with Ian, making their own preparations, saying their goodbyes. 

Jenny closed the cloth over the food in the basket and turned to Claire, letting out a heavy huff as she stepped in to pull Claire into a hug. “And yourself, too. They’ll both be needing ye, Claire,” she said softly. 

“Aye, so we will,” Jamie’s voice spoke suddenly next to them. He stepped in and wrapped his arms around both women, hugging them tight. “We must be off now. We’ll write when we find a place safe enough to stop, Jenny,” he added as he took a step back, letting them part from one another. “Thank ye for this, for everything. Ye take care, too; you and Ian and the bairns.”

Jenny rolled her eyes but stepped in to hug her brother again. “Ye’d better send us word of the birth, brother. We’ll be waiting to hear.” 

“Aye, aye, we will.” He kissed her forehead, then grabbed up the basket, nodding to Claire to follow him out the door. Neither knew whether this would be the last time they saw Lallybroch. No one did; and the whole house turned out to say goodbye as the three rode out under the arch once again.


End file.
